The Boys Scouts will now admit girls. Here's what local leaders in Tennessee are saying.

The boy scouts have announced via a press release that girls will be allowed in their cub scout program and older girls will be able to pursue the highest rank of eagle scout. This will start in 2018. Small unit Cub scouts will still be single gender, either all girls or all boys. Larger groups will be able to welcome both genders if they choose. The boy scouts have made this decision after many requests from families across the nation.
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Tennessee's Boy Scouts of America leaders responded to Wednesday's historic announcement to allow girls into the national organization's programs, pledging to work closely with their Girl Scouts of America counterparts on the initiative.

In Middle Tennessee, decisions about how to expand programs to girls will be left up to local Middle Tennessee leaders, the region's top Boy Scouts executive said.

Larry Brown, CEO of the Middle Tennessee Council — Boy Scouts of America, said there will be no regional push to expand programs to girls due to its relationship with the local Girls Scouts of Middle Tennessee.

"We are going to leave this grassroots and up to local leaders," Brown said.

Elsewhere in Tennessee, the CEO of the Knoxville-area Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America, David Williams, said the decision by the BSA to admit girls meets the needs of today's families.

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The Boy Scouts of America will admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting next year and establish a new program for older girls based on the Boy Scout curriculum that enables them to aspire to the coveted Eagle Scout rank. (Oct. 11)
AP

"Families involved in scouting have been asking and wanting this program for years," Williams said, adding that character-based programs such as the Boy Scouts have far-reaching impact on a child's life.

In Tennessee, the two scout programs can coexist together

Nationally, Girl Scout officials have suggested the BSA’s move was driven partly by financial problems and a need to boost revenue.

But Brown said the relationship between the two organizations has only strengthened since rumblings of the decision were made public.

"The Girl Scouts do a great job in our area, and they are recognized as one of the top councils in the country," Brown said. "I meet regularly with the Girl Scouts chief executive. We have discussed this decision at length and we will continue to work together to serve boys and girls in the programs that we have."

Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee CEO Agenia Clark said the announcement will likely only bring the organizations closer together.

"What makes Nashville and Middle Tennessee unique is the collaborative nature by which we all coexist," Clark said.

Williams echoed the need for collaboration.

Williams said he and Lynne Fugate, CEO of the Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians, have discussed the changes.

"We are in the same rotary club and have had very healthy conversations about the topic, and ultimately we wish more girls and boys were in scouting programs," he said.

Fugate said she doesn’t comment on the decisions that another organization makes about its membership, but, “What I will say about Girl Scouts is we will continue to be the pre-eminent leadership experience for girls, as we have been for 105 years. The Boy Scouts do a great job teaching young men to be leaders. They’ve been doing that for 107 years, and my sons are Eagle Scouts. So I appreciate the work of Boy Scouts.

"But as a Girl Scout and as a mother of boys, I see tremendous value in single-sex organizations providing leadership experiences for youth. And so we at Girl Scouts will focus on that work and continue to do that work in the future.”

Middle Tennessee's Boy Scouts council was one of the fastest-growing in the nation last year. It added over 1,000 kids to the program in Middle Tennessee.

The region's Girl Scouts council has also seen unprecedented growth, Clark said, and is also one of the fastest-growing in the nation.

The demand for both programs is evident, she said.

"The development of children is unique for boys and girls, and that’s why we have boy scouts and girl scouts," Clark said.

Not a big change for Tennessee

Girls participating in Boy Scout programs isn't a new development.

Brown said the Nashville region's boy scouts also allows girls in several of its programs, so the national move isn't a big change for the area. It's the same in the Knoxville area, Williams said.

"One of our board members who is probably in her mid-50s tagged along with her brother when he went to scout meetings," Williams said. "Sisters have been at club meetings for as long as I can remember. While it's for the son, the whole family is welcome to participate in the activities. The program has always been touted as a family program."

And the change to Cub Scouts might make it easier for families that have multiple children and want all their kids to participate in a single program, Brown said.

"We aren't looking to promote a program for girls," he said. "We do want to support families ... The Nashville area is special community where people are working together. We (the Girl Scouts and BSA) work well together and we don’t want to disrupt what they are doing and what we are doing."